Android: If your phone's battery is draining a little faster than you'd like, BetterBatteryStats will tell you absolutely everything you need to know about what's killing it.

We've shared lots of ways to get better battery life on your phone, and Android's built-in settings can tell you a lot about which apps are using the battery. BetterBatteryStats, however, is a bit more detailed.

If you have a modern Android phone, you know the pain of turning on your phone at 5 PM only to…
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After you've installed the app, just let it run while you use your phone as normal. After a day or so, open it back up and you'll have a bevy of information in front of you. Tap the "Other" menu at the top of the screen to see how apps have been using battery on your system. You can view by which apps are using the network, which apps are draining CPU cycles, and more. Arguably the most useful menu here is the Partial Wakelocks list, which shows you which apps have partial wakelocks on the phone. These are apps that keep your phone from going into full sleep mode when you aren't using it, which can be a significant battery drain.

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For example, if you see the NetworkLocationLocator service using a partial wakelock, that means Google Maps has spent some time checking your location. Often this is because of Google Now, in which case you can save battery by turning off Google Now. In my case, Gmail was one of the bigger offenders, because it was constantly getting notifications for new email. If you don't know what a wakelock does, search for it on Google to see what other people have found on the subject. It should lead you in the right direction.

Of course, whether you want to turn off sync for any given app is up to you. If you can't live without Google Now, then you'll have to live with the battery drain that comes with it. Still, BetterBatteryStats is a great way to stay just a little more informed about what the apps on your system are doing when your screen is off. Hit the link below to try it out, and check out the How-To Geek's guide below for more details on wakelocks and using BetterBatteryStats.